Laser levels - why not just use string?

Where would you put the batteries?

wrote in message
oups.com...
Laser levels - why not just use string?

wrote:
Laser levels - why not just use string?

laser levels look cooler .. lots cooler !

I cant think of one other reason why I use my laser level, but it was a
bargin at 3 quid and its cool

I defy anyone who is handed a laser level not to turn it on and put
thier finger in front of it.
Its like an in built pavlovs dog response. You KNOW you couldnt use it
to cut Sean Connery in half , but you have to check anyway.

Your right , string, level etc work just as well, they are a gadget,
but I'm a sucker for any gadjet that had large red buttons

Each to his own I suppose

, 8/25/2006,6:38:02 AM, wrote:

Laser levels - why not just use string?

How would you impress your neighbors?

On 25 Aug 2006 03:38:02 -0700, wrote:

Laser levels - why not just use string?

Or a bubble level. I installed 1000's of feet of crown molding
without a laser level. I used a 4 foot level and a pencil mark.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Laser levels - why not just use string?


How do you level the string, how do you obtain a single 'correct'
reference high by using string, yes I know it is possible to do it
with string, tape measure and bubble level but it's a lot easier to
use a laser and stand!

wrote:

Laser levels - why not just use string?

so true. Last time I used one I quickly realised a large spirit level
was much quicker.


NT

wrote:
Laser levels - why not just use string?

They look better in the dark.

Seriously though, there are many uses when it's just 'easier' to use
one over the other.

For example, whilst plasterboarding a ceiling recently I set the the
laser level on the floor marking out where the centre joist was... with
the board then in position it was a simple task to then screw down this
line. Sure, I could've marked the position of the joist at both ends
and drawn a line across, or lay some string between the two points, or
even just judged it by eye, but my cheap-and-cheerful laser level made
it a no brainer.

Horses for courses at the end of the day...

Another thought, which may be pushing things a bit too far, is that a
piece of string suspended between two points is never going to be
perfectly level (in terms of being straight) - there will always be a
slight curve in it no matter how tensioned the string is (particularly
so over longer distances). Of course, in practice the curve may not
make any difference to the task and indeed my cheapo laser prism may
not be any better!

Mathew

wrote:
Laser levels - why not just use string?

"There is no force, however great,
Can stretch a cord, however fine,
Into a horizontal line,
Which is accurately straight"
(W Whewell, Elementary Treatise on Mechanics 1st ed, p 44).

Douglas de Lacey

The message .com
from contains these words:

Laser levels - why not just use string?

Because string does not self-level, does not reach past obstructions
like doorframes, doesn't easily go round inside corners, is fiddly to
adjust if you're not sure exactly where you want the level in the first
place and droops.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Laser levels - why not just use string?


I once saw some drainage laid out on site with had been levelled with
string. LOL

Mathew Newton wrote:
wrote:
Laser levels - why not just use string?

They look better in the dark.

Seriously though, there are many uses when it's just 'easier' to use
one over the other.

For example, whilst plasterboarding a ceiling recently I set the the
laser level on the floor marking out where the centre joist was...

...By that I do of course mean the laser illuminated a line on the joist
(and subsequently the plasterboard) as opposed to the floor..

wrote:
Laser levels - why not just use string?

Because only the cat gets any fun playing with a ball of string.

badgolferman wrote:

, 8/25/2006,6:38:02 AM, wrote:


Laser levels - why not just use string?


How would you impress your neighbors?

High tech string, of course. Don't have any? It is fantastic! Point
the free end at the destination point, squeeze the ball and it unwinds,
extends free end out to where you want it, rolls the excess back onto
the ball and maintains correct tension to place a straight line along
it's length. It comes with free accessories - a levitator, so you can
mark without holding the ball of string, and a carrying case, with lock,
so it doesn't jump out and scare the neighbors.

Phil Anthropist wrote:
wrote:
Laser levels - why not just use string?

Because only the cat gets any fun playing with a ball of string.

And, more to the point, it doesn't show any interest in the laser level
and hence you are free to get on with the job. (been there done that...
little bugger)

Mathew

Laser levels - why not just use string?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catenary

Mathew Newton wrote:
Phil Anthropist wrote:
wrote:
Laser levels - why not just use string?

Because only the cat gets any fun playing with a ball of string.

And, more to the point, it doesn't show any interest in the laser
level and hence you are free to get on with the job. (been there done
that... little bugger)

There may be something wrong with your cat !

Ours chases the laser dot to exhaustion. We call it the "cat exerciser."

The message
from Douglas de Lacey contains these words:

"There is no force, however great,
Can stretch a cord, however fine,
Into a horizontal line,
Which is accurately straight"

Ah, d'yer remember the way exam questions were phrased? "Two masses are
connected with a light inextensible string..."

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

When your not using it as a level, it makes an OK cat toy (with the
laser is on).

That and string sags.

HeyBub wrote:
Mathew Newton wrote:
Phil Anthropist wrote:
wrote:
Laser levels - why not just use string?

Because only the cat gets any fun playing with a ball of string.

And, more to the point, it doesn't show any interest in the laser
level and hence you are free to get on with the job. (been there done
that... little bugger)

There may be something wrong with your cat !

Ours chases the laser dot to exhaustion. We call it the "cat exerciser."

I was more referring to the line... but, yes, a dot sends them nutty. I
reckon I could actually kill one of ours through exhaustion as they
don't seem to know when they're worn out.

Indeed, I never knew cats panted until I got a laser pointer...

Mathew

In article ,
says...
Mathew Newton wrote:
Phil Anthropist wrote:
wrote:
Laser levels - why not just use string?

Because only the cat gets any fun playing with a ball of string.

And, more to the point, it doesn't show any interest in the laser
level and hence you are free to get on with the job. (been there done
that... little bugger)

There may be something wrong with your cat !

Indeed.

Ours chases the laser dot to exhaustion.

Ours did, until they figured out that even when they caught it,
they didn't.

We call it the "cat exerciser."

Would you believe: US Patent # 5,443,036
"Method of Exercising a Cat".

Abstract:

"A method for inducing cats to exercise consists od directing
a beam of invisible light produced by a hand-held laser
apparatus onto the floor or wall or other opaque surface in
the vicinity of the cat, then moving the laser so as to
cause the bright pattern of light to move in an irregular
way fascinating to cats, and to any other animal with a
chase instinct."

--
Keith

In article . com,
says...
Laser levels - why not just use string?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catenary


Is that what you get when you leave a cat and a canary in the same
room?

--
Keith

"Phisherman" wrote in message
...
On 25 Aug 2006 03:38:02 -0700, wrote:

Laser levels - why not just use string?

Or a bubble level. I installed 1000's of feet of crown molding
without a laser level. I used a 4 foot level and a pencil mark.

What the F*&K is a pencil? Could you use a lap top?

wrote in message
oups.com...
Laser levels - why not just use string?

Highly advanced mathematics:

No force on earth however great
Can stretch a string however fine
into a horizontal line
which will be absolutely straight

In uk.d-i-y, Douglas de Lacey wrote:
wrote:
Laser levels - why not just use string?

"There is no force, however great,
Can stretch a cord, however fine,
Into a horizontal line,
Which is accurately straight"
(W Whewell, Elementary Treatise on Mechanics 1st ed, p 44).

Douglas de Lacey

Surely a line can be perfectly straight or perfectly horizontal, but not
both. Except for a zero-length line, of course.

--
Mike Barnes

wrote:
Laser levels - why not just use string?

Not string. Bucket, water, and tubing:

http://www.factsfacts.com/MyHomeRepair/WaterLevel.htm

wrote in message
oups.com...
Laser levels - why not just use string?


String also involves the use of grey matter. Something that is lacking in
most people today. You have to know how to do it to do it.

Everything that is done with a laser can be done with string, measuring
tape, level, and half a brain. Except, that is, to throw a red dot out
there that the cat can play with.

Now, there are two lasers. Real lasers and play lasers. Real lasers can be
useful in throwing a line all around a room, or against a building, or
otherwise put up a mark that is easier than using the old ways. It is just
that they are very expensive, and one must know a lot about how to make them
work, and be sure that they are working properly. Anyone can throw up a
laser line, attach cabinets or molding, and be done with it. But, is it
right? Or do you end up with a kitchen full of crooked cabinets and molding
before you realize the thing is off?

Takes less time to do it the old way.

Steve

wrote:
Laser levels - why not just use a ball of string?

How long would it have to be?


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

Norminn, 8/25/2006,8:05:31 AM, wrote:

badgolferman wrote:

, 8/25/2006,6:38:02 AM, wrote:


Laser levels - why not just use string?


How would you impress your neighbors?

High tech string, of course. Don't have any? It is fantastic!
Point the free end at the destination point, squeeze the ball and it
unwinds, extends free end out to where you want it, rolls the excess
back onto the ball and maintains correct tension to place a straight
line along it's length. It comes with free accessories - a
levitator, so you can mark without holding the ball of string, and a
carrying case, with lock, so it doesn't jump out and scare the
neighbors.

You're confused, my friend. In our area we call that tape.

On Fri, 25 Aug 2006 15:43:37 +0100 Mike Barnes wrote :
Surely a line can be perfectly straight or perfectly horizontal, but not
both. Except for a zero-length line, of course.

Ah yes. On a tour we went to see the longest pier in Queensland, used for
loading sugar. Constant height above the water and, we were told, the
middle is six foot above a straight line joining the ends.

--
Tony Bryer SDA UK 'Software to build on' http://www.sda.co.uk

Norman Billingham wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...

Laser levels - why not just use string?


Highly advanced mathematics:

No force on earth however great
Can stretch a string however fine
into a horizontal line
which will be absolutely straight

I read a long time ago, that if a fly lands on a horizontally installed
steel girder, the girder will sag from the fly's weight. Of course, the
sag can only be measured with some very expensive equipment that none of
us possess.

-
Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
To Email, remove the double zeroes after 'at'

Tony Bryer wrote:
On Fri, 25 Aug 2006 15:43:37 +0100 Mike Barnes wrote :
Surely a line can be perfectly straight or perfectly horizontal, but not
both. Except for a zero-length line, of course.

Ah yes. On a tour we went to see the longest pier in Queensland, used for
loading sugar. Constant height above the water and, we were told, the
middle is six foot above a straight line joining the ends.

The pier is six miles long? If it's six inches rather than six feet,
that would make the pier about one and three-quarter miles long. I found
Urangan Pier, which is supposedly 1.4 km, a little under a mile. Is that
the one?

On Fri, 25 Aug 2006 12:21:57 -0400 Harlan Messinger wrote :
The pier is six miles long? If it's six inches rather than six feet,
that would make the pier about one and three-quarter miles long. I found
Urangan Pier, which is supposedly 1.4 km, a little under a mile. Is that
the one?

No, Lucinda, further north:

"Situated about 100 kilometers north of Townsville, on the northeast coast of Australia, the Port of Lucinda is dedicated to the export of raw sugar from the Ingham sugar-growing district. It comprises on-shore sugar handling and storage facilities, with a single trestle jetty and conveyor running out to an offshore berth and ship loader. The jetty is one of the longest of its type in the world, extending for 5.6 kilometers and dipping 1.2 meters over its length as it follows the curvature of the earth. Sugar takes 22 minutes to travel along the conveyor from the on-shore storage sheds to the ship loader."

So four foot in old money

http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:o...n&client=opera

--
Tony Bryer SDA UK 'Software to build on' http://www.sda.co.uk

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember saying
something like:

Laser levels - why not just use string?

The beam of light from a ball of string is crap.
--

Dave

Tony Bryer wrote:

... The jetty is one of the longest of its type in the world, extending for
5.6 kilometers and dipping 1.2 meters over its length as it follows the
curvature of the earth.

Hmmm. I woulda thunk half that, ie r-sqrt(r^2-2.8^2), where r = 12,756.3 km.

Nick

wrote:
Laser levels - why not just use string?

Tried stretching a string 600 feet or so?

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

wrote:
Tony Bryer wrote:

... The jetty is one of the longest of its type in the world, extending for
5.6 kilometers and dipping 1.2 meters over its length as it follows the
curvature of the earth.

Hmmm. I woulda thunk half that, ie r-sqrt(r^2-2.8^2), where r = 12,756.3 km.

Nick


Having spent a frustrating afternoon putting a coat of white paint on an
already white ceiling, it occurs to me that any line you could follow
would be a bonus. Is that something a laser level could do?
The tinted paint that's supposed to show you where you've been is
totally useless IMO

wrote:
Tony Bryer wrote:

... The jetty is one of the longest of its type in the world, extending for
5.6 kilometers and dipping 1.2 meters over its length as it follows the
curvature of the earth.

Hmmm. I woulda thunk half that, ie r-sqrt(r^2-2.8^2), where r = 12,756.3 km.

That's the earth's diameter, 2r.

dadiOH wrote:
wrote:
Laser levels - why not just use string?

Tried stretching a string 600 feet or so?


Tried pointing a piece of string, from a ladder at one end?

Tried drilling two holes at right-angles from different sides of a door
frame, and having the ends meet up exactly?


--
Ian White

Ian White wrote:

Tried drilling two holes at right-angles from different sides of a
door frame, and having the ends meet up exactly?

How you do that?


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257